


preyed

by Marenke



Series: Inktober 2019 [3]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Book 4: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Character Study, Gen, Inktober, Inktober 2019, Mentions of Drowning, No Dialogue, Triwizard Tournament, Veela (Harry Potter), alone? like w no help?, gabrielle delacour centric, have you ever THOUGHT how it would be to be a child. on a freezing lake
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-03
Updated: 2019-10-03
Packaged: 2020-11-22 08:27:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 423
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20871194
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Marenke/pseuds/Marenke
Summary: They don’t give her a choice.





	preyed

**Author's Note:**

> inktober day 3 prompt: bait

They don’t give her a choice. One moment, Gabrielle is wandering alone on the Hogwarts hallways, looking at the paintings, unfamiliar moving pictures; the next she is falling, unable to move anything but her eyes.

There were soft steps resonating in the too silent hallway, and then a levitation spell. Gabrielle wanted to scream, but was unable; the spell’s magic must’ve interfered with the Veela magic, and now she was stuck until someone broke it. Her breath would’ve caught, but Gabrielle’s chest seemed constricted, like a thick iron cage corseted around her. She couldn’t breathe.

Gabrielle was turned, and faced the headmaster of another school, eyes twinkling gently.

The headmaster said something in English, and all Gabrielle wanted to do was cry, but her tear ducts did not seem to be functioning. The foreign headmaster gently closed eyes, but Gabrielle was still painfully aware of the world around her.

She couldn’t help but notice how he didn’t seem sorrowful at all.

* * *

They slipped her from the levitation spell into clammy, wet arms. They spoke something in the garish tones of what sounded like Mermish, a class Gabrielle had hoped to attend in a far-flung future. Now, it just terrified her.

The creature hissed in what it presumed to be a soothing tone at her, but she couldn’t see how it was supposed to be; all it did was give Gabrielle a deep-seated sense of fear, deep in her bones, freezing her just like the cold waters of the lake that revolved against her as she went deeper and deeper.

* * *

Even if Gabrielle could not breathe, she felt like she was drowning; Veela fire hadn’t been meant to be underneath frigid waters. A merman had opened her eyes, and now she looked around, frantic, trying to find something that would lead her to the surface of the water.

She floated gently, bobbing side by side with other people, unable to know if she would be rescued, tangled in kelp. The other people seemed peacefully asleep, but all Gabrielle could feel was a rising tide of panic. She could feel the iron cage around her chest start to get loose; the spell was fading away. Gabrielle would drown, soon. Tears pressed against her eyes, but there was no way for them to leave. She didn’t want to die like this: frozen, surrounded by water, alone.

A person appeared, far away, swimming. She hoped it was her sister, but the lack of the blonde, waspy hair told Gabrielle that she would drown on this cold lake.


End file.
